Conventional ceiling fans that are shipped in cartons have separate packing materials such as foam inserts for the many components that must be assembled by the installer to hang the ceiling fan. For example, ceiling fan blades are generally shipped in detached positions and are fastened onto the motors and ceiling fan arms by screw type fasteners during the assembly process, a practice having many inherent problems.
A single conventional ceiling fan blade has often required some five screw type fasteners to attach the blade to the motor/arm of the ceiling fan. Thus, a five blade ceiling fan can have some twenty five screw type fasteners just for attaching the fan blades to the motor and arm assembly. Clearly, problems occur when any of this small screw type fasteners become lost and/or missing during the assembly process.
In addition to having multiple loose parts, a typical installer must follow a tedious process in order to assemble and hang the ceiling fan. In FIG. 1, a conventional ceiling fan motor housing 10 has a rotor component 20 that rotates about a central axis within a motor housing 10, which in turn is connected to a hanger assembly 5 that is attached beneath a ceiling 2. A plurality of fan blades 30 can be connected to the rotor 20 by mounting arms 40. Each mounting arm 40 has one end 42 connected to an end 32 of each fan blade 30, and an opposite second end 44 having at least two through-holes 45 therethrough, so that conventional screw type fasteners 50 can pass through the through-holes 45 to mateably thread into threaded holes 25 in the bottom of rotor 20.
It is usual in many ceiling fan installation directions to have the installer first connect and hang the motor housing 10, rotor 20 and hanger assembly 5 to a ceiling by having the installer standing on a raised platform such as a ladder or stool. Next, the installation directions have the installer attach the blades 30 to their respective mounting arms/motor connectors 40. Finally, a last step is to connect the blade 30 and respective mounting arm 40 to the rotor 20 on the motor housing 10.
This final assembly step takes great dexterity, patience, balance and time for the installer. In order for a single person 60 to be able to complete this final step, the installer 60 needs to hold in one hand 62 the fan blade 30 and already attached mounting arm 40, and to position a screwdriver 70 to the heads of the screws 50 with the other hand 64. The installer must be able to balance the mounting screws 50 on the tip of the screw driver 70, insert the screws upwardly through the holes 44 in the mounting arm, making sure not to accidentally drop the screws 50 and then screw the screws 50 into the mating holes 25 on the rotor 20 all while still holding the blade 30 and arm 40. This assembly requires the installer to have to constantly hold both hands 62 and 64 raised high above their head, while again standing on the ladder or stool.
This tedious traditional process of assembly and installation causes many potential problems. First, the screw type fasteners can and do accidentally fall and become lost causing more time and expense to finish the installation. The installer 60 often has to constantly reposition the blade 30 and arm 40 in order to be able to properly line up the through-holes 45 in the mounting arms 40 with their respective mating holes 25 in the bottom of rotor 20. Also, the blade 30 and mounting arm 40 have been known to fall on and cause injury to the installer 60 during assembly. Furthermore, the installers can lose their balance and injure themselves by falling off the ladder or stool.
The use of screws has other inherent problems as to their appearance. The screw type fasteners are often visible from those looking up at the running ceiling fans. Visible screws are unsightly and further detract from the appearance of the ceiling fan itself.
Still additional problems have been known to occur after installation of the screw type fasteners. For example, uneven tightening of each of the plural screw type fasteners that connect the blades to the mounting arms has resulted in wobble effects when the ceiling fan is running.
Another problem occurs as a result of the need to clean blades over time in order to remove dirt and dust buildup. Current techniques have relied on manually holding brushes to the ceiling fan attached blades themselves which inherently tires the muscles in the cleaner""s back, neck, shoulders, arms and hands. Furthermore, this messy cleaning operation with brushes while the blades are attached to the ceiling fan mounted motor often results in dirt and debris falling on both the cleaner and furniture and flooring below the ceiling fan.
Another problem occurs when the ceiling fan is taken down to be reboxed. In order to be repackaged, each and every component must be disassembled, a time consuming endeavor, which also can result in many loose parts becoming misplaced and lost over time.
Various solutions to changing some of the traditional attachment methods have been proposed that have additional problems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,486 to Hodgkins, Jr. describes an xe2x80x9cInterchangeable Fan Blade Systemxe2x80x9d, title. However, generally all of the embodiments shown require some screw type fasteners be used that still would have many of the problems described above. Furthermore, the slots shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 9, and adapter plates shown in FIGS. 5A-5G would have problems in fixably securing the blades to the adapters so that the blades would not wobble nor rattle when being run during a ceiling fan use. For example, the hook arm in FIG. 5D would not by itself adequately secure the fan blades in position by solely relying on a xe2x80x9ccentrifugal force.xe2x80x9d Besides the wobble and rattle problems, each time the ceiling fan stops the hooked on blades can potentially fall off and become damaged as well as injure those beneath the ceiling fan. Similarly the xe2x80x9cpinxe2x80x9d supported blades of FIG. 5F would also wobble and rattle for not being properly secured to the mounting arms. In addition, these xe2x80x9cpinsxe2x80x9d can inherently become loose and cause the blades to possibly fall off, become damaged and possibly injure those beneath the ceiling fan. Thus, the need exists for solutions to the above problems.
A first objective of the subject invention is to provide ceiling fan blades that can be easily and quickly attached onto a ceiling fan mounted motor without using removable fasteners such as screws and the like.
The second objective of the subject invention is to provide mountable ceiling fan blades that become instantly aligned when being mounted.
The third objective of the subject invention is to provide ceiling fan blades that do not rattle nor wobble when being run on a ceiling fan.
The fourth objective of the subject invention is to provide ceiling fan blades that can be reversibly hung without using removable fasteners such as screws and the like.
Two embodiments of hook and fold blades are included. Both embodiments include a ceiling fan motor having a rotating member, a first mount attached to the rotating member, a first fan blade having a first interior end portion and a first exterior end portion, a first hook portion which hooks the first mount to the first interior end portion, and a lock portion for restricting lateral movement between the first mount and the first interior end portion, wherein gravity and centrifugal force further locks the first fan blade to the first mount. The first mount can be on the first fan blade arm, or on a portion of a rotor on the motor. The locking portion can include edges having a cavity therebetween, wherein a portion of the first hook portion becomes positioned and locked within the cavity. One embodiment has the first hook portion attached to and extending outward away from the first interior portion of the first blade. Another embodiment has the first hook portion attached to and extending outward away from the first mount attached to the rotating member. The first hook portion can be attached to the first interior portion of the first blade and extending to the first exterior portion of the first blade. The first hook portion can be attached to the first mount toward the rotating member. The blades can be reversible in at least one of the embodiments.
For both embodiments there is a novel method of attaching the ceiling fan blades without using any removable fasteners, that includes the steps of hooking one end of a fan blade to a mount attached to a ceiling fan motor, and locking the fan blade to the ceiling fan motor with at least one technique to eliminate any lateral movement between the fan blade and the mount. The techniques can include either or both inserting a narrow body portion to be tightly fit or mateably fit between two raised edges/walls/arms, and/or positioning a raised ridge type portion into a mateably receiving indentation.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment that is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.